A friend of mine Kabubi Herman aka Slim Mcee the poet, tagged me in this post on Facebook, and it made me realise that I have not said anything about the Tadooba Tax that is going to be passed in the 2014/15 budget of Uganda.
So I asked him to repost his work here because I think he said most of the things I wanted to say about this tax.
My friend wrote and said;
It’s Thursday the 4th of September and I begin by greeting all of you.
I woke up this morning with a bright face but inside me I was thinking how it feels or felt for those deep in the villages and spaces close to the city who are forced to sleep at 7pm everyday because at times they can’t afford Kerosene to light their lamps call them ”Tadooba”.The reason why I thought about it is because there is a petition waiting for each and every individual out there with a loving heart to sign and oppose the tax on Kerosene. This is a call to each and everyone. It doesn’t matter where you come from or what you do. As long as you know or can imagine how it feels being in darkness.
I wonder how some people are so heartless or have hearts that are no longer pounding…. how do you wake up and think that there is a need to increase tax on such a ‘basic need’ to our people deep down in the rural areas…
Is it because some people were born in urban areas, attained a good education, and hold highly paying jobs, they then think that it is the same conditions everywhere?.Who tells you that if you can afford cooking on Gas, paying your electricity bill in advance and lighting as many bulbs as you can is the case with everyone out there?
Have you visited the ill equipped Government Health centres deep down in the villages and see how midwives suffer while helping pregnant women deliver? These women fight to save million of lives out there using Kerosene lamps and at times when the Kerosene is done, they use their phones.
Millions of pupils and students in Uganda use Kerosene to light lamps every evening and very early in the morning because they have to do their home work, revise and ready themselves for school.And for you the Babylon, you have decided to play a deaf ear and a blind eye because your own are busy enjoying the electricity and in case it goes off, the automatic solar power.
I am advising those in charge of the tax system and in this case, increasing taxes, to increase taxes on the various posh cars that our MPs yearn for or the huge salaries that they attain every year.
And me I suggest they add more tax on Tobacco importation to raise they taxes the government needs.
I ask you to sign this petition and support the women and children in the villages who have no electricity and are using paraffin to light up their worlds.
